Yesterday, my mood was grey. So I decided to finish this painting inspired by the « énervés de Jumièges », the superb shore of Geneva’s lake and Mary Shelley who lived there for a while and wrote Frankenstein.

Shadow had done three years in prison and nobody knew it. Shadow was a painter. Shadow was famous. Shadow was beautiful. Shadow was nice. Shadow had a lover. Shadow had friends. Shadow had everything.

Shadow had done three years in prison in an absolute silence. Nobody had heard of it. The suffering was so violent that she could find no words to describe it. The grip of anguish was so tight that it strangled her tears.

Shadow had done three years in prison and now she had lost all hope of getting out. Only death could free her.

But before finding a way to die, she had to dress herself for the party, put on some make-up and wait for her lover to come and take her to their friend’s house.

Shadow was in the car. The car was speeding on the highway. Shadow was chatting with her lover. Their conversation was light and lively. Shadow was a master in the art of hiding the black shadows darkening her soul.

Shadow’s lover looked at her. She was so beautiful, so gifted, so nice. He was a simple mortal in love with a deity. Shadow would wake up one day and realize. The worm and the star. Their story would end there.

Suddenly the car skidded. Oil had been spilt on the asphalt. The car hurt violently the crash barrier. A burst of sparks. The car glided out of control, skipped the other vehicles by miracle. The car now slowing down on the hard shoulder and coming to a stop. The astonishing quietness falling on them.

Shadow turned to her lover and, with a smile that made her look like Mona Lisa, Shadow said :
‘I’m free’.

Written in sept 2011, prompt by Nina Pelletier was the seven first words. The story is inspired by an anecdote lived by a friend, how he cured a girl from her dramatic heartache in an instant.

I have done many versions of Eugene’s eye
This #painting has been a true obsession for the last 2 months. All the first versions have been garbaged. It has been very tough to achieve a sufficient result. Not really satisfying, just acceptable. But I was unable to drop the project.
Probably because I have been deeply moved and impressed by the life and work of Gabritchevsky.
#mixedmedia #painting #watercolor #graphite #haiku #calligraphy 30cm*30cm

I fell in love with a verse of Maiakovsky Tear away bits of joy from the fleeing days and wanted to do something inspired by it. I was in a sad mood after the Nice events and did it.To know, to suffer
But tear away bits of Joy
From the fleeing days

But while searching more info about it, I discovered it was an erroneous translation. Written after the suicide of a friend, Yvan Mignot says that it says Tear away bits of joy from the days to come. And this matched still more with my mood. Plus a haunting image of the teddy bear of a magnificent little by dead in the Nice tragedy. I did another version.
To know, to suffer
But tear away bits of Joy
From the days to come

The news were so ugly that I resorted to magics and drew a portrait of Ali the fighter, such a powerful icon. I intended to do a final version on raw canvas but the world make such an ugly noise at the moment that I may go on working around that fascinating subject.
Les nouvelles étaient si mauvaises que j’ai eu recours à la magie et que j’ai dessiné un portrait d’Ali le combattant, une icone si puissante. Je pensais faire une version finale sur un chassis brut mais le monde fait un bruit si affreux en ce moment qu’il se peut que je continue à travailler autour de ce sujet fascinant.#acrylicpainting#cardboard#ink after a photo of Philippe Halsman